The present invention relates generally to a color image recording apparatus, and more particularly to a wettype color image recording apparatus wherein a latent image formed on a photosensitive member is developed by using at least three liquid toners of yellow, magenta and cyan.
In a conventional color image recording apparatus of this kind, developing processes with yellow, magenta and cyan liquid toners are individually and sequentially performed. In the yellow toner developing process, light is irradiated onto an original document and the light reflected therefrom is passed through a filter to extract a blue light which is the complementary color of yellow. The blue light is applied onto a uniformly charged photosensitive member to form a latent image thereon. The latent image is then developed with the yellow toner to form a yellow image. The developing processes with magenta and cyan liquid toners are similarly performed, wherein green and red lights which are complementary colors of magenta and cyan, respectively, are applied onto the photosensitive member to form latent images corresponding respectively to the green and red lights and then the latent images are developed with the magenta and cyan liquid toners. Through the above-described processes, a full color image reproduction is achieved.
Although the yellow color is primarily reproduced by the yellow liquid toner, a small amount of the yellow color material is also contained in both the magenta and cyan liquid toners. Therefore, yellow color reproduction will not be faithfully achieved if the components of the yellow color material contained in the magenta and cyan liquid toners are not taken into consideration. For example, if reproduction is made with respect to an original document having two regions which are the same in yellow density but differ in both magenta and cyan densities, the two regions where the yellow color density should be reproduced at the same level will, in fact, be reproduced at different levels due to the influence of the yellow color materials contained in the magenta and cyan toner liquid.